Enabling Change
Tools Training Strategy Facilitation Papers Les Robinson CV
Enabling you to change the world
What's new
The secret to being engaging
You can't make people engage with you or change their behaviours. But you can satisfy their über-wants. This presentation explains how.

Expanded Enabling Change workshop
Now in a 3 day version including professional training in Program Logic - the state-of-the-art in program design and evaluation.

Test your changeABILITY
Take this enjoyable quiz to check whether your next behaviour change project is likely to achieve its goals.

How to make a theory of change
An engaging and collaborative method for designing programs to tackle complex social and environmental problems. (364k PDF)

Promoting Healthy Behaviours
Transform your abilities as a health promoter with this 2 day master class in the design and evaluation of behaviour change promotion programs.
Click here for brochure or call 0414 674 676 to have this training delivered in your organisation.

The 7 DOORS page
By popular request, here's a summary of the 7 Doors model - the theory of voluntary change used in the Enabling Change training.
Here also, for the first time, is a research paper on voluntary change with fascintating insights into what it takes to change human behaviour. (484k PDF)

Do the Green Thing This web site has some great short videos for sustainability educators. Check out the penguins!

CoCreate Guide
The link has been fixed!. Those of you who want to download the facilitator's guide to multi-stakeholder projects can do so
here.

Tools Possum says..get some tools!

CoCreate cover

The CoCreate Guide
The complete facilitator's guide to collaborative projects.
This comprehensive step-by-step guide provides the tools, methods and approaches to facilitate collaborative projects at the neighbourhood and catchment level where high levels of stakeholder ownership are vital.

The 218 page guide can be downloaded in full. (It's free)

Success factors for community engagement
These two checklists will help maximise community participation in your next planning, decision-making or hands-on project. (72k PDF)

Enabling EcoAction
By Les Robinson and Andreas Glanznig, published by WWF Australia.
An easy, complete guide to anyone working with the public for environmental action. It's addressed to program managers and includes: communicating action, change models, the arts of facilitation, leadership, action research, measurable programs, understanding audiences, the program cycle, program planning, message and campaign design, and working with NESB audiences. (176pp) Download entire book! (1Mb PDF).

13 steps to good practice
A best practice checklist for environmental educators and change agents. Download the checklist (176k PDF).

Zestful activities for environmental educators
A collection of 15 fun activities to help build groups, explore values and strategise (188k PDF).

What's best?
A decision tool for choosing the best community education strategy (352k PDF).

When to share decisions?
Two decision tools for choosing the right level of public participation in decision making. (PDF 348k).

Summary of Diffusion Theory
A handy summary of the change theory that focuses on the qualities of the innovation (44k PDF).

Get Read
The popular guide to writing and designing 'reader-friendly' publications (52pp). Download the full guide (276k PDF).

Working the Media
A short sharp guide to getting your story out (38pp).
Download the full guide (72k PDF).

Open Your Council
How councils are rediscovering democracy. Download the full booklet (360k PDF).

Geoff Brown's weblog
Inspiring ideas from one of Australia's great facilitators. Link

The Change Agency's resources for activists
An excellent Austalian site with change, facilitation and advocacy tools. Link

The Tamarack Insititute for Community Engagement
An inspiring Canadian organisation working to build sustainable communities. The site has lots of resources. Link

The Earthshare training manual for change activists
A really useful Australian guide - especially for NGOs. Link

Some nice guides for activists from the City of Seattle Neighborhood Leadership Program
Secrets of recruiting members
Good meetings guide

Training
We provide three expert courses to build your capabilities as a change agent:

Course 1: Enabling Change
Be able to design and evaluate professional social marketing and behaviour change programs.


Course 2: Community Engagement
Plan and execute successful community consultation and participation projects.


Course 3: CoCreate
Get the skills, tools and confidence to facilitate challenging multi-stakeholder gatherings.

COURSE 1:
Enabling Change course
Download the 2-day brochure (296k PDF)
Download the 3-day brochure (344k PDF)

Download the specialised Health Promotion course (296k PDF)

Download the specialised NRM course (296k PDF)

The popular master class on the tools and practice for designing behaviour change programs targeting the community, business, landholders - anyone in fact.

Engage and motivate your community on issues including natural resource management, healthy behaviour, sustainable living, waste, stormwater, energy and water conservation, crime prevention and road safety.

Specialised courses for health promoters and NRM staff are also available.

The course is available in 2 and 3 day versions:

The 2 day version allows participants to design and evaluate behaviour change projects.

The 3 day version includes professional training in Program Logic, the best way to to design and evaluate multi-faceted programs in complex environments.

Detailed info on both versions including a list of agencies who've hosted the training for their staff.

What participants say:

"Yay. Now I have some tools and resources and expertise to proceed with more confidence and manage outrageous expectations in a challenging area!"

"When can I start using this!!!"

"I'm feeling very confident in my ability to influence Landcarers."

"Energised, innovated, inspired. Fired up that I have something like this to back me up."

"Now I have the tools to focus, I'm more confident to take on projects."

COURSE 2:
Community Engagement course Download the brochure (108k PDF)

Get your community involved in collaborative planning and local management projects.

This is a 1.5 day intensive course in the design of community engagement projects, including proactively dealing with potential community conflict.

It takes you through the concepts, success factors, and step-by-step development process for community participation.

Developed for the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC), this course is suited to both seasoned program managers and those who have yet to design their first project.

[A detailed description of the course contents has been published as a guide by DECC.]

Recent participants include staff from:

Bayside City Council (Vic)
Cardinia Shire Council (Vic)
Barwon Water (Vic)
Dept of Environment and Conservation (WA)
City of Mandurah (WA)
Dept of Health (WA)
Office of Crime Prevention (WA)
Nthn Agricultural Catchments Council (WA)
City of Subiaco (WA)
Lachlan CMA (NSW)
Randwich Council (NSW)
Willoughby Council (NSW)
Sydney Catchment Authority
Victorian Litter Action Alliance
Australian Department of Defence

What participants say:

"Vital to anyone required to engage with others and get it right."

"Les is a fantastic facilitator. A wealth of knowledge and very enthusiastic."

"Very informative, I feel more comfortable about engaging the community and involving them in a project."

"Really good. I can see what my organisation and I have been doing wrong and how we can improve our community consultation processes and get the best out of them."

"The booklet and information was so practically set out I just wanted to take it back and start using it. A really valuable tool that simplifies and streamlines the process."

COURSE 3:
CoCreate
Learn the skills, tools and tips to facilitate any group with confidence.

Download the brochure (296k PDF)
For course contents click here.

Strategy
Arabic anti-smoking campaign
Clients: Sydney South West Area Health Service and Social Change Media
Using ideas derived from Seven Doors we developed a research methodology to identify 'enabling conversations' to allow both smokers and non-smokers to negotiate healthful outcomes where there is conflict over smoking in the home (as is often the case). These conversations will be modelled in the second phase of the Ma'feesh cigara men gheir khosara (No cigarette without loss) social marketing campaign.

Practice Change in Natural Resource Management
Client: The Australian Government
This national project closely examined the experiences of four regional NRM organisations in different states. Recommendations aimed to improve the effectiveness of regional NRM organisations as agents of 'people change'.

Effective small projects: a facilitator's handbook and evaluation tools
Client: Environmental Protection Authority (Vic)
The Neighbourhood Environment Improvement Program (NEIP) is proving to be a sound model for collaborative community/agency action on tricky and chronic environmental problems at the neighbourhood and catchment level. This consultancy involves developing tools and methodologies to improve delivery and enable reflective assessment by participants.

Community engagement in environmental management
Client: Department of Environment and Conservation (NSW)
This consultancy included the development of case studies and original training tools to build the capacity of environmental managers to develop and manage public participation projects.

Education for Resilience
Client: State Emergency Service (NSW)
This study presents a communication model for building the resilience of vulnerable communities in the face of natural hazards, as well as offering some solutions to the perennial problem of motivating the public on low probability hazards.
Download the full study. (PDF 248k)

Public participation in waste management
Client: Department of Environmental Protection (WA)
Advice to the DEP and Waste Management Board in WA on the design of a state-wide public participation program for municipal waste initiatives.

Capacity-building for regional activists
Client: NSW Nature Conservation Council
A series of wide-ranging 'capacity-building' workshops with the NCC's regional councils on the North Coast, Central West and Riverina. These primarily focused on strategic planning to meet a rapidly changing political and institutional environment.

'Sustaining change': an education strategy for Resource NSW
Client: Resource NSW
Partners: Jenny Kent, Jenny White

This consultancy critically reviewed leading environmental education programs including EarthWorks. It identified gaps in current strategy, training, research and programs for 'education for sustainability' in NSW. The report recommended future directions for this new agency's NSW-wide community education strategy.

Public participation in decision-making
Clients: The Western Australian Local Government Association, The Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council
Partner: Nolan-ITU

WA has experienced intense, protracted public conflicts over new waste facilities. This consultancy looked at international best practice in community participation, recommended a new approach and provided decision tools which aim to make communities more equal partners in decision-making for new waste management technologies.
FULL REPORT (328k PDF)
Two useful papers are available:
The qualities of effective public participation processes (PDF 185k) and
Two decision tools for setting the level of public participation (PDF 348k).

Strategic tools for ACF campaigners
Client: The Australian Conservation Foundation
ACF's campaigners run very complex national campaigns with limited resources. We created an innovative set of strategic tools to focus and simpify their planning tasks.

Click here for more.

Papers
The power of buzz
Talk to Coast to Coast Conference 2006.
Behaviour change rarely happens 'in a bubble'. People need to meet each other and talk. How can we help this process along? (124k PDF)


The voluntary adoption of new practices
Report of a unique research project that explored 93 personal stories to give fascintating insights into the nature of voluntary change. (484k PDF)

Consultation: what works (PDF 540k)
Address to Local Government Public Relations Conference, Wollongong, NSW, Feb 2003.
And here's the consultation checklist we developed in the conference workshop (PDF 144k).

Public outrage, public trust (PDF 528k)
Keynote address to Waste and Recycle 2002 conference, Perth WA, Oct 2002.

Four Universal Laws of Communication
Keynote speech to Steel Can Recycling One-Day EE Conference, July 2002.

On making social change
A popular paper with insights on social change, the Seven Doors Model and evaluation.

The future of government
A talk to Marrickville Council's management team on 21st century challenges for local government, Feb 2002.

From education to social change
Presentation to Waste Educate Conference, Brisbane, Nov 2001.

Planning or democracy? Or why great planning ideas wither and die.
Talk to Communities and Places Forum, Sutherland, Nov 2001

10 tips for organisational insurgents
A talk to Hunter council stormwater managers on the art of leading change from below, Oct 2001.

Who are the Green Hats?
An insightful study on how to reach early adopters in business. Download the full study (268k PDF)

How not to save the environment
A lecture on resisting the seduction of information.
(The inaugural Allen Strom lecture, NSW Environmental Education Conference, August 2000)

Lessons from social marketing
Things campaigners can learn from the field of social marketing - includes a summary of current social marketing theories.
(Australian Association for Environmental Education Conference, Jan 1999)

Strategy for campaigners
Taking off the gloves...mindfully, and other lessons for grass-roots campaigners
(NSW Local Government Public Relations Conference, Picton 1997)

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